The Undercurrents of State-Formation in Rural Somaliland: A Study of Gender and State-Making in the Somali margins

Research output: Book/ReportPh.D. thesis

This PhD thesis is a study of the ambivalent and dynamic relationships between central state authorities and customary authority in the rural margins of Somaliland. More concretely, the thesis explores how people residing in rural spaces engage in actions that have direct or indirect implications for wider state-formation processes. To fully uncover such dynamics, the study engages
with those local tensions and small-scale conflicts that encourage people to take on actions that are attractive to the state in its various forms. Somaliland is a strictly uneven society in terms of gender, and this unevenness is often found at the core of those local disputes that renegotiate local forms of order and authority. This study illustrates how customary perceptions of gender norms are linked to the expansion of the ‘reach’ of the state. Drawing on in-depth interviews, life-stories, and observations the thesis presents four case studies that together illustrate the multifarious dimensions and trajectories of state-formation. Thereby, this thesis contributes with much needed empirical
material on rural Somaliland and makes theoretical contributions to existing scholarship on stateformation, hybridity, authority-making and their link to ideas and ideals of gender.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherDet Teologiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet
Volume84
Number of pages236
Publication statusPublished - 2020
SeriesPublikationer fra Det Teologiske Fakultet
Number84

ID: 245321799